Armor, Protectors, Airbag Clothing Reviews
Forcefield AR Knee Protectors Review
Introduction For many years now I have employed “ATGATT” when I ride. In my case, especially when commuting, this means I am wearing over-pants or other riding pants that will fit over work clothes. Being roomy enough to handle this situation means that the armor in these pants might not be held securely enough to …
The Forcefield Sport Suit X-V: One Piece Protection & Comfort
The Forcefield Effect Last year marked my first encounter with Forcefield Body Armour products when I reviewed their Tech 2 base layer and Sport Tubes. It’s become my preferred everyday riding gear ever since because it keeps me dry and warm when it’s cold and cooler when it’s hot out. I absolutely love the Tech …
Forcefield Sport Shirt 1 & Sport Pants 1 Review
Quick specs: Retail price: $219 (shirt, with armor) / $199 (pants, with armor), CE level 1/2 armor (see full review) Early May I received the Forcefield Sport Shirt 1 X-V and Sport Pants 1 from Motonation, the North American distributor for a few popular brands including Forcefield, SIDI, and Trilobite (as well as their house …
Exotogg Thermal Vest Review: Full of Hot Air Or Full Of Promise?
Where Did This Come From? The United Kingdom, but there’s a lot more to this story… I don’t recall how I first heard about the Exotogg, but it was nearly 2 years ago I first got in contact via email with its designer Tony Hawkins. It was in the final stages of development at that …
Mobile Warming Thawdaddy Heated Vest Review
Introduction With winter getting into full swing here in the Northern Hemisphere some riders will be packing up their gear and winterizing their bikes until spring. Others will do our best to keep riding throughout the winter and as such, will be breaking out the cold weather riding gear. Winter riding gear an excellent study …
Hit-Air MLV-C Detailed Review
Over the past few months, I have been wearing an MLV-C airbag vest from Hit-Air. During this time I have written about adding an airbag vest to my everyday riding gear and how I came to decide on the Hit-Air MLV-C for me. Now that I’ve had some time to wear the vest on a …
Hit-Air MLV-C Airbag Vest Preview
Introduction Recently I posted that I had purchased an airbag vest so as one can tell from the title of this writing, I chose to go with the Hit-Air MLV-C Airbag vest. Here’s a look at why I chose the Hit-Air brand and why I chose to go with a vest instead of an airbag …
Motorcycle Airbag Protection, Do You? Would You?
Motorcycle protective equipment is something I’ve been getting progressively more concerned with as I get older. Having started riding on the street nearly 25 years ago (has it been that long?) I’ve been fortunate to have what I would consider less than my share of spills and get-offs. I’ve also been fortunate to have been …
Moto Skiveez Technical and Travelers Shirt Review
Two motorcycle-centric shirts with differing appearances and design approaches to achieve similar goal, functionality and improving rider comfort. Functionality is not set aside for the sake of comfort as both shirts have features designed to make them useful for the motorcycle rider on both short and longer rides. They also can be handy for non-two-wheeled …
Velocity Gear Motorcycle Armor
Velocity Gear Motorcycle Armor We’re all amazed that you, our visitors, continue to ask for more motorcycle armor reviews. This is wonderful news, because it demonstrates that webBikeWorlders are focused on safety and performance, which pleases us to no end. So just for you, here’s another interesting piece of armored gear for your consideration. We …
Armor, Protectors, Airbag Clothing Reviews
Our Experts Skid, Slide, Crash and Fall to Review the Best Motorcycle Armor & Protective Clothing Our readers know that we’re a ALGATT safety crew here at wBw. For those who are new to riding, ALGATT means “All The Gear All The Time”. That means always wearing a riding jacket, full face helmet, gauntlet style …
Timbuk2 Messenger Bag
Messenger bags were originally used to rush important documents back and forth by bicycle messengers in big cities like New York and London. In the beginning, they were known as courier bags. They were, and still are, dumpy looking things that get the tar beat out of them by their banzai owners. Somehow, the bike messenger …
BMW and KTM Developing Spine Protection System for Motorcycle Riders
BMW and KTM Developing Spine Protection System for Motorcycle Riders Effective protection of the neck and spinal areas is crucial, especially for off-road motorcycle riding. BMW has collaborated with KTM move forward with the development of an adequate system of protection for this extremely sensitive area. The objective is to reduce the risk of injury …
Honda Motorcycle Airbag
Airbags for Gold Wings TOKYO, Japan, September 8, 2005 – Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today announced it has succeeded in developing the world’s first production motorcycle airbag system. The new system is claimed to help lessen the severity of injuries caused by frontal collisions. It is to be made available on the new Gold Wing …
Forcefield Pro and Sport Lite Back Protector Insert Review
Forcefield Pro and Sport Lite Back Protector Inserts Forcefield has added the Sport Lite line of Level 1 back protector inserts to their product lineup. Also, the Forcefield Pro back protector insert is now available in eight different sizes (up from 6) to fit a variety of motorcycle jackets. The Forcefield Pro back protector inserts …
Dainese Manis Back Protector Review
Dainese “Manis” Back Protector The new Dainese Manis back protector is very comfortable, relatively thin, has good ventilation and also meets the CE Level 2 standard. The comfort comes from the overlapping plates that make up the outer layer on the back of the protector. They are connected with rows of thin elastic strapping that …
Forcefield Sport Lite 2 Back Protector Review
Forcefield Sport Lite 2 Back Protector The new Forcefield Sport Lite 2 back protector has a thin profile and it’s comfortable, while still providing EC Level 2 protection. The overall design is similar to the Pro Sub 4, but the Sport Lite 2 back protector is about 30% thinner. It also has a slightly different …
Motorcycle Reflective Vests
REV’IT! Athos vs. Oxford Bright Top Reflective Vest Review The Rev’it Athos Air and the Oxford Bright Top Active reflective vests are excellent examples of lightweight comfortable hi-viz garments that won’t impede while greatly enhancing comfort. Both vests are excellent examples of hi-visibility Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The Rev’it Athos Air has higher quality overall …
Electroluminescent Safety Vest
USTEK “Night Armor” Electroluminescent Safety Vest The USTEK “Night Armor” safety vest uses an interesting type of electroluminescent piping that has an appearance similar to neon. The vest features a high-visibility yellow and orange shell with highly retro-reflective accents, making it suitable for day or night use for motorcycling and other activities. webBikeWorld has always …
Tinwolf Motorcycle Reflective Vests
Motorcycle Reflective Vests Super bright reflective vests in a variety of designs are a lot of fun and help improve rider visibility. We reviewed the Tinwolf reflective vest way back in June 2005. The vests have proven to be very popular and it’s good to see that during this time the company has thrived and that motorcyclists …
Alpinestars Reflex Knee Guards Review
Alpinestars Reflex Knee Guards Can excellent companion for riding jeans and similar pants are let down by a few design and quality flaws. Let’s face it, as much as we should wear all the gear all the time, motorcycle pants are often too hot during the summer or too “un-cool ” for the workplace. Mesh …
Forcefield Pro Sub 4 Back Protector Review
World’s Best Back Protector? The Forcefield Pro Sub 4 is claimed to be the first motorcycle back protector in the world that transmits less than 4 kN of force in the EN 1621-2:2003 standard testing regime. This is below the “magic” number of 4 kN, said to be the maximum force that should be transmitted …
Roadgear LED Vest Review
A Pull-Over Bib Vest With LEDs The Roadgear LED lightweight mesh vest includes separate front and rear LED flexible light tubes. These can provide good visibility in the dark, but not without some issues in execution and construction. I think the visibility thing is catching on with motorcyclists, or at least I’d like to think …
Moisture Wicking Cooling Ice Pack Shirt
An Ice-Packed Moisture Wicking Cooling Shirt Moisture-wicking shirt with four pockets for “HydroCOOL” ice packs. The inserts are soaked in water and frozen, then inserted into the shirt and provide relief from the heat…while they last. Every year about this time, motorcycle riders living south of about 42 degrees of latitude start their annual search …
Dainese D-Air Motorcycle Air Bag
Airbag Technology for Motorcycle Racers The technology piloted for the Dainese D-Air air bag system was used for the first time ever during the Grand Prix race in Valencia when it was inadvertently tested by by Marco Simoncelli in 250 cc class. The D-Air air bag system was designed by Dainese (the racing version is …
Velocity Gear “Juggernaut” Motorcycle Armor Shirt Review
Velocity Gear “Juggernaut” Protective Shirt It was just about one year ago today that we reviewed the original Velocity Gear “Velocity Armor” shirt (review). That was a follow-up on a tip from a webBikeWorld visitor. We’ve been surprised at the response to our motorcycle armor reviews, which have generated considerable interest. This is a good thing, …
Forcefield Motorcycle Armor
Forcefield Armor and Protectors Many of you are still responding to the series of motorcycle armor review articles we’ve published over the last year or so. Although we knew it all along, this just proves that webBikeWorld visitors are extremely knowledgeable — and concerned — about safety. This pleases us to no end, because we’ve …
Duke Wicking Shirt
Dri-Duke Moisture Transport Wicking Shirt Review Works under leathers or textile to wick away moisture. You’re looking at what must be the best kept secret in sports clothing. This shirt keeps the wearer cool with “moisture transport” technology. But try to find one! [UPDATE: See below for more information on availability.] We ordered this shirt …
BMW Back Protector 2 Review
BMW Back Protector 2 The BMW Back Protector 2 is thin enough to fit under most motorcycle jackets. It also covers a large area of the back. The lining is comfortable (relatively speaking) and the Back Protector 2 seems to be more flexible than other back protectors. It’s also a lightweight at only 1.75 lbs. …
PolyBrite Lighted Safety Vest Review
Electro-Luminescent High-Viz Vest Every once and a while, we find what could be called a “cross-sector” product. This PolyBrite lighted safety vest is a good example. That’s because it was originally designed for construction or road safety but it has potential for motorcycle use. It also meets one of our goals of providing our visitors …
Safe Lites BeaconWear Lighted Safety Vest Review
Safe Lights “BeaconWear” Reflective Vest Review From my own experience working with the Department of Transportation, I can tell you that the difference between being seen and becoming a statistic is simply this: visibility. Motorcycle riders are constantly exposed to risk because of their smaller outlines, so getting the attention of other drivers on the …
Knox Stowaway Back Protector Review
Pretty Big for a Stowaway We were surprised at the response we received to our recent review of the Knox Ricochet back protector. We didn’t expect that so many motorcycle riders would be interested in such a serious piece of safety equipment. But we should have known better! After all, webBikeWorld visitors are the smartest …
Knox Ricochet Back Protector Review
The Knox “Ricochet” Back Protector Fits under most motorcycle jackets. Covers a large portion of the back. Lining is stiff and has little cushioning, but apparently it is designed to protect the rider. In a land where way too many motorcycle riders apparently believe that proper riding gear means shorts and a T-shirt, a back …
TinWolf Motorcycle Reflective Vest
TinWolf Custom Reflective Vests Unique designs really light up at night or in poor visibility when radiated with light. Well made and highly adjustable for various waist sizes. webBikeWorld has consistently promoted motorcycle safety, which includes proper riding gear, riding techniques and visibility. Some of our first product reviews from over 5 years ago were …
Knox Cross Shirt and Knox Cross Sport Shorts Review
Protectors for Protection When we started our exploration of the various forms of motorcycle armor and protective clothing, I never thought we’d get beyond one or maybe two back protectors. But here we are with the sixth article in what can now be considered as a series. We originally thought that these type of products …
BMW AirVantage Insulating Vest Review
Let the Air Do the Insulating Thin, lightweight and well made. Vest can be inflated via a tube and uses air to act as an insulator. It works, but it’s expensive. We’re probably too late with our review of the BMW AirVantage vest. It was released by BMW some time ago, and it’s an interesting …
